PROCESSING & HANDLING PDF

PUMP SIZING AND SELECTION MADE EASY

By Joey Sarver, Blake Finkenauer and Y.A. Liu, Virginia Tech University | January 1, 2018

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Viscosity, power consumption, commercial availability and lifecycle cost analysis are all important
considerations in pump sizing. An automated spreadsheet method helps engineers take those factors into
account in centrifugal pump selection

Many aspiring chemical engineers enter industry after university study without su cient practical knowledge
about how to properly size pumps. A number of recent articles provide useful guidelines for sizing and selecting
pumps, but these articles focus on certain speci c aspects of proper pump sizing, while leaving out others [1–
4]. Chemical engineering literature does not fully cover other essential aspects of pump sizing and selection —
including the viscosity correction, power consumption, commercial availability and lifecycle cost analysis.

In industrial operations, pumping alone can account for between 25 and 50% of the total energy usage of the
process, depending on the application [5]. The initial purchase price of a pump is only a small fraction of the
total lifecycle cost. There are situations in which purchasing a less expensive pump actually leads to greater
energy-usage costs. This results in a higher lifecycle cost (see Example 1, below).

Without a proper understanding of the pump selection process, engineers cannot e ectively make both
economic and practical decisions. This article aims to ll in some of the gaps in understanding and provide a
straightforward method for pump sizing and selection. Along with this article, we have created a useful
Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to assist with centrifugal pump sizing. The automated Excel spreadsheet assists in
calculating the key parameters for pump sizing and selection. Since the majority of the pumps used in the
chemical process industries (CPI) are centrifugal pumps, this article focuses on that equipment category,
rather than the other general classes of pumps, such as rotary and positive displacement pumps.

EXAMPLE 1. PUMP SIZING AND SELECTION

The following is a pump sizing problem to illustrate the calculations in this article. You are told to purchase a
pump for your manufacturing facility that will carry water to the top of a tower at your facility. The pump is a
centrifugal pump that will need to pump 800 gal/min when in normal operation. Assume BHP is 32 and 16
horsepower for the 3,500-rpm and 2,850-rpm pumps, respectively, for all pump choices in the composite
curve. The pump operates for 8,000 h/yr. Assume all of the pumps are viable for your required owrate. The
suction-side pipe and discharge-side pipe diameters are 4 and 3 in., respectively. The suction tank elevation (S)
is 12 ft, and the discharge tank elevation (D) is 150 ft. Pressure on the suction side is atmospheric pressure (1
atm = 14.696 psi) and the pressure on the discharge side is 1.1 atm. Assume that both hd,f and hs,f are roughly 10
ft.

Based on a ve-year life, the objective of the problem is to calculate the lifecycle cost to operate each pump
(that is, the costs of installation, maintenance and electricity, which is $0.18/kW), and to choose the pump with
the lowest lifecycle cost (depreciation is assumed to be negligible for this example). The pump curves in Figure
3 illustrate the following pump options to choose.

Option 1: 4 × 3 – 13  3,500 rpm

Installed cost of pump and motor: $20,000 for 3,500 rpm
Maintenance cost: 10% of installed cost per year
Motor e ciency: 65% (assumed)

Option 2: 4 × 3 – 13  2,850 rpm

Installed cost of pump and motor: $40,000 for 2,850 rpm
Maintenance cost: 8% of installed cost per year
Motor e ciency: 80% (assumed)

Option 3: 4 × 3 – 10  3,500 rpm

Installed cost of pump and motor: $10,000 for 3,500 rpm
Maintenance cost: 10% of installed cost per year
Motor e ciency: 65% (assumed)

Option 4: 4 × 3 – 10  2,850 rpm

Installed cost of pump and motor: $20,000 for 2,850 rpm
Maintenance Cost: 8% of installed cost per year
Motor E ciency: 80% (assumed)

Solution:
Convert volumetric ow to velocity:
 

 
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Sharmaji_C
2 years ago
− ⚑

Isn't the Suction side Velocity (i.e. 0.340 ft/s) and Discharge Side Velocity (i.e. 0.605 ft/s) too less....??

△ ▽ Reply
chemicalengineering
2 years ago
− ⚑
 2 years ago

Note from the Editors: The authors reported a problem with their website for a period of time, so while the links
in the article were correct, the website was not available. The website with the spreadsheet is now available via
the link.
△ ▽ Reply
ChuckMartel1970
− ⚑
2 years ago

Very good article, but neither the link on the web article or the printed magazine article to download the Excel
spreadsheet works.
△ ▽ Reply
chemicalengineering
− ⚑
2 years ago edited

A response from the authors to the comments below can be found in the addendum to the article - link is
included at the end of the article
△ ▽ Reply
David Karesh
− ⚑
2 years ago
I applaud the concept, and agree that far too often initial purchase price seems to drive decision making.
Unfortunately, Example 1 of the article was a bit difficult to follow forvarious reasons.

1. 3” and even 4” lines seem a bit small for the required 800 gpm flowrate. Indeed, a quick consult with the
Crane TP-410 (pg B-14 in my 1982) finds that this combination is completely “off the chart.”

2. While the authors are certainly allowed their discretion in their choice of εm (motor efficiency) assumptions,
the 0.65 and 0.8 values do seem low for motors.

3. As Figure 3 makes clear, 3,500 rpm is associated with 60Hz electricity and 2,850 rpm is associated with 50
Hz electricity. It is not likely that both options
will be available to the practicing engineer at a specific location.

4. BHP is supplied as an assumption. Since the hydraulic horsepower requirement is a function of only the flow,
head, and specific gravity it and the εp (pump efficiency) can be calculated from the information given.

a) For 800 gpm, 137 ft TDH*, SpG = 1 the hydraulic horsepower = 27.7 hp based on Eq 12.
b) The εp (pump efficiency) is thus an impressive 86.5% (significantly better than the εm ) for the 3500 rpm and
an astounding 173% for the 2850 RPM option.

see more

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